The Game
by MissKeith
Summary: Megamind is challenged by a villain obsessed with playing the ultimate game of good versus evil. Part 1/3


The Game

Part One: Pawns Fall First

Disclaimer: I don't own Megamind...but boy would I love to work for Dreamworks!

"Let's hear it Metro City for our new hero, who after just capturing the deadly Viper- the man with tears of poison- is now administrating his own vaccine created to cure those stricken ill by the madman's citywide attack. Thank goodness for that _mega mind_ of our city's hero. This is Roxanne Richie reporting live. Have a wonderful, poison free day Metro City."

The red recording light faded away and Roxanne relaxed. She slumped her shoulders and ruffled her stale hair a bit out of place; the news crew had gone a little overboard with the hairspray this morning and it seemed to crackle when forced to move. Roxanne searched the growing crowd, a hundred or so paled individuals all waiting to receive treatment. Sandra Summers, Roxanne's new camerawoman approached her with a smile; the young girl had been an intern, offered the job solely on the merit of her gender though Sandra hardly seemed to mind.

"Ms. Richie…that was a great spot." Sandra commented. "Not so sure about the poison free day though."

Sandra and Roxanne turned their attention to the ailing public. 'I didn't write that one' Sandra heard Roxanne say as something caught her attention. Drifting off mentally Roxanne walked past Sandra and headed into the crowd. Meekly waving goodbye to her dazed boss Sandra shifted her camera's weight to her other shoulder and headed for the news van. As Sandra set her camera down in the back of the van a sudden overcast shadow caught her attention; she looked up to find a cloud of brain bots fluttering from all directions to the scene of the travesty. Amongst them was a blue bulb- the over sized head of the new hero Megamind.

He walked off the metallic cloud smugly, as he always enjoyed his grand entrances a little too much. Megamind kept his eyes locked to Roxanne's as he approached her, always reveling in the fact she continued to look back at him and not away. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him, despite the blue skin, the giant head and the stretchy black latex suit.

"I have to show you something." Roxanne eagerly blurted out as she gripped his wiry shoulders and pushed him back. "I found a clue. This way." She pointed for him to follow and then was off.

'Ah, a curious creature' Megamind mused to himself, interlacing his fingers as he followed briskly after her. With a wave of his hand the brain bots vanished into the sky in flocks and quickly disappeared into the distance. Megamind followed Roxanne with enthusiasm, as defeating venom merely ate up a couple hours of his day. Ever since Megamind took reigns as Metro City's hero each day had paled in comparison to the day before; without a true challenge Megamind had to admit he was becoming a little restless. If not for Roxanne he did not know what he would do with himself.

"Why are we going over here?" He asked her politely.

"Because I want this off the record until we figure out what it is." She smiled as she pulled whatever she found out of her coat pocket.

They stopped, crouching in a secluded spot behind a flower vendor. Once alone Roxanne turned to her blue companion and smiled that lip-nibbling grin she got whenever she uncovered a mystery of any kind. Megamind faintly grinned himself, adoring that whimsical look of hers.

"Here it is…it fell out of Venom's pocket." Roxanne presented the evidence to him.

Megamind approached the object suspiciously, his eyes widening at the white pawn in her hand. After a pause of hesitation Megamind picked up the small ivory piece and examined it carefully. Roxanne stared intently as Megamind examined it. His green eyes grew overly focused on understanding the meaning of the object in his possession.

"Perhaps there is a better time in which to play chees." He said in a serious tone.

"Chess." Roxanne rolled her eyes. "The word is chess…And- and I'm not playing, look at the bottom."

Megamind gently turned the game piece over to look at the underside of it. 'It says MasterMind' Megamind whispered, his green eyes darting up to Roxanne in sudden haste. By name alone Megamind assumed this person considered themselves intelligent, perhaps worthy of matching wits with himself.

"MasterMind." Roxanne's eye focused on Magamind's as they darted back and forth in thought; when he simply let out a harsh breath and chuckled she raised a brow curiously. "You're not concerned at all? Whoever this guy is he just led that venom guy to poison hundreds of people."

"See…you assumed that." Megamind pointed out. "There's no way to know if it's true…or you know, a little less true."

"False." She chimed in.

"False." He smiled as if he found the word on his own. "I think the only problem we have here is a grade-A amatooer wrongfully thinking they are as cool as yours truly." He smugly shook his head and pointed to himself. "And there's a matter of the name…no originality, it's so close to my name! They just replaced the beginning part! How lame is that, right?"

"Maybe they're trying to follow in your footsteps?" Roxanne offered. "Nobody was hurt during the attack…maybe its just a, I don't know…game to them. It was to you."

Megamind paused then and took a second glance at the chess piece. If this was indeed a game, then there had to be players—more than just Megamind and the copycat Mastermind if this venom character were in theory also part of the scheme. Could there be some sort of league of evil that formed without him knowing?

"Strange that the calling card would be a pawn." Megamind mused suddenly as he tossed the small pawn up and down in his hand. "Perhaps…if your theory is indeed correct, there are more players yet to enter the field?"

"And mastermind is merely the King?" Roxanne offered.

"Seems that could be the case…if you are correct." He couldn't stress enough the idea that Roxanne could possibly be wrong…though she rarely ever was.

Megamind tucked the chess piece away in his pocket when Sandra suddenly popped her head out from behind a barrel of daisies and shouted 'What are you guys doing back here all alone!' Megamind drew his dehydrator gun and aimed for right in between her eyes, but Roxanne yanked his aim off course and a wandering dog was struck instead.

"Sandra!" Roxanne clawed her hands in frustration then hurriedly put her finger to her lips to silence the loud camerawoman. "Do you want EVERYONE to hear you?"

"I don't know…" Her eyes fell half open and rolled over to MegaMind. "Maybe I do since someone just tried to turn me into a dehydrated ice cube thingy."

Megamind paused, clearly thought about all his options and then slowly pointed the gun at Sandra once more. "Roxanne she knows too much."

Roxanne rolled her eyes and gently grabbed hold of Megamind's arm; she eased him into lowering the firearm away from her camerawoman, whom she offered a placid smile. Sandra scoffed and disappeared behind the flowers to reappear a moment later from behind the cart. She put a hand on her hip and looked the two over once more before opening her mouth.

"What are you two up to?" She questioned, eyes narrowed.

"We were hiding evidence." Megamind sternly said. "And if you know what is good for you…you will not tell a soul." He chuckled evilly and walked past Sandra, his shoulder barely brushing her as he squeezed past the tight space.

Slightly creped out Sandra shivered as he passed by her, the air about him a thick cloud of menace. She was a superficial being; she admitted that to herself long ago…and this guy was blue, with a giant blue head and possibly blue…everything else. Yeah…uh, yuck. Roxanne sauntered after the blue alien leaving Sandra with a disgruntled stomach.

"Megamind." Roxanne had to reach out to stop him. "What's with the rush? Is something the matter?" Concern filled her eyes when she saw a slight twinge of sadness in his. "Something Sandra said?"

"She doesn't have to say anything." He rolled his eyes and fiddled with his gun. "Though I have to admit she does say a lot. A lot of…stuff I don't want to hear." He softly tucked away his precious gun and sighed. "The woman despises me…I actually think—is it just me, or does she look like she's literally going to THROW UP when she has to be near me?"

"Blue just isn't her favorite color." Roxanne fiddled her fingers with his silence and then offered a bit of wisdom instead of lighthearted banter. "People…some people need awhile to adapt to things." Her calm smile warmed him up a bit and he dropped the villainous scowl that had creped onto his face.

"You always know just what to say." His honesty was commendable. "Today is a special day you know." He suddenly pointed out, his posture suggesting he wished to wrap his arm around her, but he kept his respectable distance.

"Special?" Her voice rang like a bell at the new topic.

"Today I am going to make pop-ed corn." He announced. "At last I have calculated the proper setting for it to not combust into a fireball of terror and destruction." He smiled wickedly as Roxanne suddenly lost the moment.

"Pop corn?" Skepticism was heavy in her tone.

"Yes. its complexities have for since I was a mere child eluded my ability to perfect its creation." It all sounded so epic, but it was hardly exciting at all.

"Woo."

When the timer beeped Roxanne pulled the bag out of the microwave, opened it and poured the contents into a large blue bowl. She slid it over to Megamind and that was that. He stared amazed at the fluffy treat and then looked up at Roxanne.

"You say it cooks instantly?"

"About two minutes thirty seconds." She walked away, leaving him to marvel at the buttery snack food. "Hey, where's minion?"

"He's at the evil- not soooo evil lair…" Megamind nibbled on a piece of popcorn as he spoke. "I'm having him make some repairs on the invisible car."

Making a face Megamind flicked the piece of popcorn back into the bowl.

"C'mon." Roxanne gently lifted the bowl into her arms, smiling when Megamind pouted childishly. "Like it or not I had to make it, and you're going to eat it. Let's watch some TV."

Megamind followed her into the living room. She had many nice things, including a big comfy couch. In prison everything was hard, the beds were stiff-so you know, nobody could hide stuff in their mattresses like knives, drugs or spy-bots built from license plates. He looked past her livingroom briefly to her balcony window. The view was lovely.

Roxanne sat down on the sofa and brought the screen to life with a soft click. Of course she settled on a romance movie she just happened to come across; Roxanne had a thing for romances. She asked him to sit besides her, patting the seat with her hand. Lost in his own perception of the moment Megamind blocked out Roxanne's question, his attention only returning to reality when a tossed pillow hit his face.

"Enough thinking…" Her giggled comment brought his gaze upon her. "Come sit. Its TV time, watch with me."

He'd do anything if he got to do it with her—all interpretations welcomed. The couch was plush, soft and red; Megamind bounced a little when he sat and smirked slightly. Roxanne eyed the full grown man childishly bouncing in place, his emerald eyes alight with amusement. 'Perhaps I'll build springs into my boots, then I could bounce about the city…' she heard him muse, mumbling to himself.

However entertaining the moment was, Roxanne abandoned her romantic flick and began channel surfing for something with a little more substance capable of managing her alien friend's very short attention span. Her news report appeared and Roxanne saw the sickly faces of the victims attacked earlier today. Suddenly she had to ask a question and she turned to Megamind.

"All those people…" She paused until her silence handed his full attention over to her. "…they're going to be okay, right?"

"The poisoning was not fatal…per say." Megamind adjusted his clothing while he spoke and then folded one leg over the other in thought. "The poison was easy to identify and stop, true sign of an amateur." A quick scoff escaped him as he leaned back into the squishy bliss of the sofa. "That's why I still believe I am right."

"I find it hard to believe this guy, whoever he is, is an amateur." She shook her head and popped a pieced of popcorn into her mouth. "I mean he got a henchman to do his bidding…and its way to convenient that you could find the antidote so easily."

"Hm, yes." Megamind pressed his fingertips together as he thought about Roxanne's theory; she was hardly ever wrong about things like this. "But why would he do it? What's to gain…he didn't steal anything, hurt anyone or kidnap anyone."

"I'm fine with that last one." Roxanne waved her hand as if seeing off the old days where she was so frequently kidnapped it had a place in her planner. "I don't particularly like being kidnapped."

"Oh…yes." He agreed quietly with a single nod of his head; Megamind drifted off into thought and all he could imagine was some creep keeping her tied up as his hostage—helpless and unable to defend herself. "Roxanne I-"

Sometimes he swore she could read minds.

"-Don't apologize." She held up her hand to stop him mid sentence with a smile. "You were rather polite for a captor, though you always went way too far with the banter you know."

"You've told me a hundred times!" Megamind rolled his head to the side and rested it in his palm. "This Mastermind appears to be more to the point than I…only wrote his name."

Megamind fumbled the pawn in his hand. On some level he was uninterested with this Mastermind scenario; this entire event would be over soon enough, perhaps too soon he thought. Mastermind sounded like a villain much like he used to be; obsessed with his own mind…perhaps they even shared his perception of villainy being a game, hence the pawn piece. A brain versus a brain came down to who was smarter, and Megamind felt he already knew the answer.

BUZZZZZ. Roxanne opened her phone and read the text.

"Megamind." Roxanne broke his mental concentration with the urgency in her voice. "I have to go."

"Go?" Megamind gave her an odd look because he didn't understand; it was 'alone' time, not 'go anywhere but here' time. "Roxanne, the mu-vea?"

"Movie will have to wait." The urgency in her voice alerted him and he stood, rushing to her side. "There's…a…." She looked pained and he could not bear it.

"What Roxanne? What has happened?" He gently braced her shoulders. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"They found…a body." She blinked more than usual as she tried to control herself. "I have to go. Sandra's on her way to pick me up."

"Let me take you." He urged. "I don't like the way that woman speeds up when the light turns lellow."

She paused and made a weird face before heading to her bedroom. 'you should stay here' He heard her say as she disappeared. Roxanne returned moments later dressed for work and finished up the process by applying a fresh coat of red lipstick. Megamind rose to leave, but Roxanne urgently rose her hands to halt him.

"No. Please stay here." She pulled out her phone and answered another text. "Relax a bit, I'll be back soon. Promise."

"Why don't you want me to come?" He asked slowly, emphasizing the oddity of her request. "If there is a new super villain out there, then I should be by your side to protect you."

She gently placed her hand on the side of his face, rubbing his blue cheek gently with her thumb. Her smile could warm the coldest hearts, but it did nothing to ease his worry. Why wouldn't she want him to go?

"It's complicated." Roxanne leaned up and kissed him gently on the cheek. "They think you may have something to do with the attack."

"Oh, if that's the—WHAT?" Megamind froze with his mouth agape. "Absurdity! The citizens don't really suspect me, their awesome protector of such a crime?" His eyes got big and glossy as he saw the sincerity in Roxanne's face. "Even when I was…evil…I never…"

"Except Metroman." Roxanne pointed out. "Though me and you know that you really didn't…the public doesn't know the truth Megamind so it's a little easier for them to you know…assume things."

"They turn fast, don't they?" He mused, turning away from her.

"I can't say, hon. Just wait her for now…okay?" She pleaded. "I'll get this whole thing straightened out." She opened the door and paused. "Could I have the chess piece?"

Megamind was still. He turned to her as he pulled the white pawn from his pocket and examined it carefully. It was just a piece of hard plastic, yet it was proof there was more at work here than met the eye.

"This is Mastermind's doing." He said in a low tone. " Perhaps I did underestimated him…"

"We know nothing about Mastermind." Roxanne assured him. "How could you know it's him behind the attack?"

"Intrusion." Megamind said as he rose, clenching a fist and standing in a heroic pose. "I can feel it!" He added when Roxanne gave him an odd look. "Roxanne, I must go with you!"

He held onto her shoulders, pleading. She knew it was a bad idea to say yes, but he was so persistent…he'd only follow her anyways. Megamind held onto the chess piece and joined Roxanne as she dashed out the door. Outside Sandra was anxiously waiting for Roxanne; she rolled her eyes when Megamind also hopped into the van.

"Don't you have your own car?" Sandra sneered as she hit the gas, hardly waiting for Megamind to even close the side door before taking off.

"I do." He answered her, adding smugly. "A very nice auto-ma-bile…shiny, sleek—and invisible."

"Fascinating." Sandra rolled her eyes. "Roxy, I told you no pets in my van."

"Be nice." Roxanne urged Sandra to tone down her obvious distaste for her boyfriend as she saw form the corner of her eye, his hand twitching for his gun. "There's more important things at work here…where's my brief?"

Sandra handed Roxanne the paper as she took a sharp right. Megamind hit the side of the van and wailed in pain. Chuckling, Sandra slammed on her breaks at a light just to topple him over in the back. Roxanne glared at her camerawoman—could she ever get an assistant that wasn't a borderline sociopath?

"Roxanne…" Megamind whined. "Are we…there yet?"

"Just put your seat belt on and wait a minute." Roxanne told him as she tried to focus on her report. "What's with this? It's suggesting Megamind may have something to do with the attack."

"Look. I don't write the stuff, I just film it." Sandra pulled up to the curb, questionably close to a fire hydrant. "All I know is…we're here and that needs to get out of my van."

"What do you call racism if it's aimed at someone from another galaxy?" Megamind grumbled angrily.

"Racism." Sandra rolled her eyes and got out of the car; she paused when she caught a death glare form Roxanne. "I'm not racist…I don't like him. He's annoying…and blue. It's just weird."

"You shouldn't judge books by their covers." Roxanne offered the unwanted advice as she prepped for her report. "He's not a bad guy…well, not anymore."

Roxanne walked away from the van to chase after Megamind who had run to the scene. He was standing very still and that unnerved her to begin with, but when he turned to her with hallowed eyes she knew something wasn't right. The body was in front of him behind the yellow tape and the victim, a young man in his early twenties appeared to have been strangled by the red marks around his neck. Symbols were painted under his eyes in black, two inward serif 'J' shaped markings. He wore a black shirt with a white pawn printed on it; there was text on the bottom and it read simply…

_Lets play a game_

_Author's Notes: I literally haven't written anything for a year because well I haven't been inspired by ANYTHING...plus, I've been working on my own stuff. But, Megamind was so inspiring I had to write SOMETHING to honor its awesomeness. Anyway, i'm back in the game-at least for now. As usual for my new writing policy (since I have school and all) this will be a three part story, hope you guys enjoyed part one. _


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